Alright, folks, we are gearing up for another exciting period of the year — the August-September phone announcement bonanza, with IFA in Berlin, and Apple's iPhonekeynote. Among the major players we are about to see, there is LG's upcoming super-powered phablet — the LG V30.

Now, if you've been following for a while, you probably know that the LG V10 and LG V20both had this weird secondary “ticker” screen, which housed notifications, app shortcuts, media controls, an always-on clock, and some utility toggles. However, it seems it will be gone for the latest iteration of the phone series.

Leaks insist that LG is done with the ticker for now. Instead, the V30 will have an extra-tall 18:9 display and its software will feature a floating bar-type of a menu, which would simulate the ticker's features.

Last time we asked about the secondary display was just after HTC launched the U Ultra with its own ticker on top. Back then, nearly 65% of people said they believe it to be a useful feature and not a gimmick. Well, now that it seems to be going away from the V30, will you miss it?

Smartphone cameras may have come a long way, but one of their greatest shortcomings is yet to be adequately addressed – their poor low-light performance.

Since smartphone cameras are powered by tiny sensors (at least compared to dedicated cameras), they can get nowhere near the low-light performance and dynamic range of a mirrorless, DSLR—be it crop or full frame—or а film camera. And since manufacturers are not going to start cramming bigger sensors in smartphone cameras anytime soon, for obvious reasons, one way to partially alleviate this issue is to implement wider apertures.Read More